After a rocky road trip, the Duke baseball team will be looking forward to returning home.
The Blue Devils struggled through seven close games over the course of spring break. The team went an overall 2-5 during the 10-day stretch, but almost all the losses were either one or two-run affairs.
Part of the reason for Duke's early struggles could be attributed to the scheduling: Both of Duke's opening ACC series were on the road, first in Winston-Salem versus Wake Forest and then another three-game series at Charlottesville versus Virginia. The Blue Devils are 7-5 this season at home, but a meager 2-10 on the road.
"We are definitely more comfortable at home," head coach Bill Hillier said. "For me, it's very good to finally be home. It makes you appreciate guys who play pro baseball in the big leagues. We have been gone now for about 10 days. It feels really good for us to be home."
The Blue Devils started off spring break March 9 against a tough Wake Forest team. The team battled hard, but dropped the first two games by just one run apiece. However, it rebounded and pounded the Demon Deacons 14-6 for its first ACC win of the season to bring its record to 8-11.
Shortstop Kevin Kelly provided the firepower for the Blue Devils in the three-game series, going 8-12 while scoring six runs. Kelly helped the Blue Devils get off to quick starts by reaching base in the first inning in each of the three games.
"He was just awesome," Hillier said. "Twelve consecutive times he reached base in one stretch. He is healthy for the first time in his career, and it's made a huge difference for him. He is showing why he was drafted so high out of high school and is drawing a lot of attention."
After a shutout loss 7-0 to Campbell March 13, the team lost a close game to Old Dominion the next day. Starting pitcher Drew Jerdan and reliever Kevin Perry combined to give up 8 runs in 3 1/3 innings, although only one of those eight was earned. The Blue Devils committed three costly errors, which Hillier attributed to the absences of shortstop Kevin Kelly and second-baseman Larry Broadway up the middle. They were both out of town due to deaths in the family.
"When you lose a couple guys like that, you lose continuity," Hillier said. "Guys that are used to serving as role players were being forced into action. That affects not only them, but the guys around them get out of sync."
The Blue Devils continued their road trip, traveling north to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers March 16. The first contest was yet another close loss for Duke, which had a late rally cut short when Kelly grounded out with two runners on base to end the game 4-3 in favor of Virginia. The Blue Devils then won in a high-scoring affair, 12-11, before dropping Sunday's rubber game 14-5. The loss dropped Duke to 9-15 overall and 2-4 in ACC play, though the team just as easily could be 5-1 if it turned around the three one-run losses it suffered in the past week alone.
"After the Wake Forest losses, we rebounded very well and beat them solidly," Hillier said, "and after the one-run loss versus Virginia, we came back and beat them pretty good. We have responded very well [to the close losses]. Now, we have three days off, and we can get ready for the next six games in four days."
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